MILWAUKEE — Yasiel Puig celebrated like a man who knew he was on the verge of returning to the World Series.

The flamboyant Dodgers outfielder danced around first base after watching his blast disappear behind the center-field fence at Miller Park and could have kept hopping all the way to Boston.

Puig’s thunder — a three-run homer in the sixth inning — gave the Dodgers their cushion and soon enough a National League pennant with a 5-1 victory over the Brewers in Game 7 of the NLCS on Saturday.

It sets up a clash of storied franchises in the World Series, with the Dodgers and Red Sox scheduled for Game 1 on Tuesday at Fenway Park. The last World Series matchup between the two franchises came in 1916, with the Red Sox winning in five games against the Brooklyn Robins.

The Dodgers are headed to the World Series for a second straight season — they lost to the Astros last year in Game 7. The franchise hadn’t won consecutive NL championships since 1977-78.

It’s another year of waiting for a Brewers franchise that hasn’t won a pennant since 1982 and is without a World Series championship in its 50 seasons in existence.

Cody Bellinger was named MVP of the NLCS after going 5-for-25 (.200) with a double, homer and four RBIs. His two-run blast in the second inning got the Dodgers started Saturday.

The Brewers got to Game 7 on the strength of their bullpen, but that unit wasn’t nearly good enough Saturday night. Instead, the Dodgers received the better relief work — 4 ¹/₃ scoreless innings from the bullpen — to win their first Game 7 since the 1988 NLCS against the Mets.

Clayton Kershaw ended this one by pitching a perfect ninth inning, beginning the official Dodgers celebration, amid silence from most of the sellout crowd of 44,097.

The Dodgers began receiving a whiff of champagne in the sixth when Puig’s laser shot cleared the left-field fence against Jeremy Jeffress. Max Muncy and Justin Turner each singled in the inning to begin the rally.

Christian Yelich had nearly tied it in the fifth, but left fielder Chris Taylor’s sliding catch on the warning track robbed Yelich, with Lorenzo Cain on second base.

“That was the catch of the year,” Bellinger said. “I don’t know what would have happened if he didn’t make that catch. It would have been a tie game, who knows? That was an unbelievable catch.”

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Walker Buehler gave his team a chance by allowing one earned run on six hits over 4 ²/₃ innings with seven strikeouts. Julio Urias replaced Buehler to get the final out of the fifth on Yelich’s shot.

Brewers bullpen ace Josh Hader entered in the third inning, with his team behind 2-1, and helped keep the score frozen. The lefty fireballer provided three scoreless innings in which he allowed two base runners and struck out four.

Jhoulys Chacin was removed after pitching only two innings for the Brewers in which he allowed two earned runs on three hits and one walk. It was the first October blip for the right-hander, who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous two starts this postseason.

Manny Machado — serenaded by boos — bunted for a single against Chacin in the second and grabbed his crotch to taunt the fans. Bellinger followed with a two-run homer that gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.

Yelich just cleared the right-field fence above Puig’s glove in the first inning for a solo homer that gave the Brewers their first run. It was a needed contribution from Yelich, who entered batting only .188 this postseason.

“They pitched well and didn’t let us get anything going,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “We weren’t able to put together rallies, multiple hits and get things going. And credit to them for how they pitched tonight.”